Farm cash, defense may be on Democrats’ chopping block

Defense programs and farm subsidies may be part of a Democratic bill to avoid the sequester, those automatic spending cuts set to kick in on March 1 absent a replacement.

Politico reported Friday that Democrats say that defense programs could “certainly be on the table” as part of a soon-to-be-unveiled plan, as could cutting subsidies to farmers. Those payments to producers cost almost $5 billion a year.

Lawmakers are busy thinking up ways to avoid the sequester but don’t appear any closer to actually getting a deal. Republicans say they won’t accept any more taxes, but Democrats are also considering a plan to raise taxes by nearly $14 billion on carried interest; squeeze about $4 billion extra in taxes out of corporate jet owners; and bring in more revenue from oil and gas companies, according to Politico.

President Barack Obama will almost certainly put a finer point on such ideas in his State of the Union address, which is set for Tuesday night.

Without a replacement for the sequester, $85 billion in cuts to defense and domestic programs would begin on March 1 — a harsh fiscal reality that has prompted dire warnings from the aerospace industry, among others.